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Post by Eric on Nov 16, 2012 16:17:01 GMT -6
Unlike the medic, Eric completely understood the pun, and nearly choked on her soda. God no not shitty puns. Anything but shitty puns. She set the can in her hands down and managed to reply between a fit of giggling, “Okay, okay.” Once she was at the fridge, it took her a moment to find the sauce, followed quickly by the cheese. After retrieving those, she stepped over to a nearby drawer filled with utensils and plucked a large grater out. She set the various items on the table, noticing Ian tentatively working to dough. Eric shoved his shoulder lights, saying in a joking tone, "You're supposed to be kneading, not petting it. Come on, pound that dough like a man."
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Post by Achille on Nov 16, 2012 16:26:46 GMT -6
Achille chuckled as he put the bowl down for Eric to grate the cheese into. "She's right Ian. You've got to be a tad rough with the dough." His smile changed slightly, "Women like a men who can get a little rough after all." He chuckled again, reaching into the fridge to pull out uncooked sausage meat and mushrooms as well as a pepperoni log. Setting the ingredients down, he brought out a plate and began to break off pieces of the sausage meat, rolling them into small balls and setting them on the plate. He started to hum his grim little tune again as he worked, smiling slightly as he did.
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 16, 2012 18:00:11 GMT -6
Ian frowned as his teammates prodded and pressured him about his work, even though he appreciated the advice. "Y-Yeah... sorry." He replied to the two sheepishly. After taking the time to shoot a short futile glare at Achille for his remark -- one that he did understand -- the young man went back to kneading the dough, making sure to put his back into it the second time around.
Not too long after everyone started on their respective tasks, the humming from before began filling up the room. Normally a little background noise wouldn't disturb a busy Ian at all... but there was something about it that set him off. Maybe it was the mood? He didn't know. Whatever the cause, it sparked a bit of curiosity inside of him.
Working subconsciously now, he turned a head to the Pyro again. "What's that--" He started to inquire about the song, but choked on the rest of the sentence. It was only then he managed to get a good look at the man. Ignoring how lightly dressed he was, Ian was focused more on the various scars he noticed on Achille's person. There were so many of them -- enough to make the Medic gulp and look back to the counter, anyway.
"You, uh... you have a lot of scars." He muttered almost shamefully, working into the dough even harder now.
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Post by Achille on Nov 16, 2012 18:40:49 GMT -6
Achille stopped humming and raised an eyebrow. "Do I?" He reached down and ran a hand over his scars. "I suppose I do. You tend to wrack them up as the years go by if something happens outside of the bases." It was quite true. It was not uncommon for mercenaries to be attacked outside of their 'workplaces', usually by rival mercenaries. Achille had survived many attempts on his life, mostly by knowing his surroundings better than the people after him. Achille chuckled again for some reason. "Though truth be told I had most of these scars long before I became a mercenary. I had quite the childhood to say the least." He absentmindedly touched the scars on his forearms, a small, almost wistful smile forming on his face. "Hung out with some interesting people too..." Shaking his head, he returned to making his sausage balls.
Content that he had enough sausage balls, Achille set the meat back in the fridge and, extracting a knife from a drawer, started to slice the pepperoni log into thin segments, keeping his fingers away from the blade.
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Post by Eric on Nov 16, 2012 18:50:45 GMT -6
Eric hadn't really taken the time to examine the half dressed pyro, but when Ian brought the scars up, she couldn't help but glance at him. Sure enough, Achille did seem to have his fair share of scars. It wasn't that surprising, though, considering she wasn't without a few of her own. But those she usually kept out of sight. As she grated the cheese, she commented, "I can see how that could happen. I got mosta my scars when I was a little kid. Well, ok when I was older too. And a young adult. Actually now that I think about it I've never really stopped getting scars." She shrugged, "Guess that just happens when you're not very careful, or try to fix wounds 'n stuff yourself."
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 16, 2012 19:46:09 GMT -6
Ian just stood and worked, silently listening while the two exchanged vague information about their respective childhoods. Having been put through a different kind of life than either of them, the Medic couldn't contribute; he had no severe injuries of his own to make note of. He surely felt for them both, though -- realizing that they'd possibly endured quite a lot of things to warrant scars such as those. It also scared him a little bit... would he wind up the very same way in the future? He certainly hoped not.
"Yeah... that can happen when you don't let things recover the way they should." He responded to Eric calmly, her statement reminding him of the nasty shoulder injury she was sporting when he first arrived at Sawmill. Did that leave a scar too? Ian was about to ask, but a bright stint of blue in the window caught his eye before he could. Lightning. It was promptly followed by a loud crash of thunder resounding through the area.
Taking this as a sign to change the subject, Ian laughed a bit nervously as he kept kneading. "I hope the power doesn't go out, or anything..."
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Post by Achille on Nov 16, 2012 20:19:24 GMT -6
Achille put the sliced pepperoni with the sausage balls before walking over to the sink to clean off the knife and wash the mushrooms. "I doubt the power will go out anytime soon. A secretary I dated once who works for the folks who hire out our contracts told me these bases are supposed to carry backup generators. Course," He continued, wiping off the dripping blade, "she was talking about the base I was assigned to at the time and that was a giant dam. Makes sense it would have a backup generator to keep things running."
As he set about cleaning the mushrooms, Achille decided to keep his mouth busy. "So what's the story with you two?" He asked nonchalantly, "I don't normally see mercenaries as young as you two these days. How'd you end up here?"
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Post by Eric on Nov 16, 2012 20:33:42 GMT -6
The bowl in front of her was now almost completely full of shredded cheese, and her hands were aching from gripping the grater. She set the now small block of cheese in the bowl and traded the grater for the soda still sitting on the table.
"Well," Eric started before taking a sip, "after I beat the fastest time in our towns local race one year, a couple of guys asked me if I'd be interested in joining some sort of under the counter army. Sounded weird and probably not legal, but I hated my mom and wanted to get out of the house, so I said sure. Course, that was the RED team that hired me. I forget how long ago, but for some reason BLU offered me a higher pay to switch, so hey why not. I wasn't that attached to my team or anything, so I didn't really care." She took another swig of the soda, almost completely draining the can, before finishing with, "Really I don't care for it that much, but it's better then nothing."
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 16, 2012 21:56:17 GMT -6
Once Eric finished her story, Ian cleared his throat to speak. "I was recruited here uh -- not too long after finishing undergraduate school. I'm not really sure why." He explained, subconsciously working with the dough again. "Basically I just had to make a choice between this job and medical school and... well? Here I am." Of course, there were a few details the Medic was leaving out, and he decided to keep it that way. To be honest, he never understood what BLU's Administration was thinking -- hiring a young guy like him over someone who had more experience, but whatever. Maybe it would come to light one day. "The whole experience has been... alright with me so far. I can't really complain."
Noticing that the dough was beginning to stiffen up, Ian considered his job done. He walked over to the trash can and rubbed off as much of the flour covering his hands as he could, then took the last swig of his soda and discarded it as well. "...What about you? I mean, you aren't that old." He asked the other man. Since he had asked them, it was only right for Achille to share his own story too.
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Post by Achille on Nov 16, 2012 22:34:28 GMT -6
Achille walked over to Ian, taking the dough away from him and starting to mold it into the appropriate shape, his hands working at a quick, but careful pace. "I may not be that old but I've been doing this job since I was six. Not this job mind you. Setting things on fire is what I mean." The dough was quickly beginning to resemble the appropriate shape for a pizza and Achille was constantly checking it's shape with his hand.
"I grew up in New York City, in one of the poorer parts of town. Didn't have much to do as a kid aside from going to school. My mum wasn't too popular around the neighborhood and I never quite liked socializing with the rest of the kids on the block." Reaching over, Achille unscrewed the lid from jar of tomato sauce, preparing it for use. "Met a rather unique young lady when I was six who taught me quite a bit of what I know today. Years of burning down abandoned buildings and other things later and we both got an offer to join up and use our self taught skills while getting paid for it."
He dumped the sauce in the now finished dough, spreading it with a ladle on hand. "That's my story." He grinned.
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Post by Eric on Nov 16, 2012 23:33:14 GMT -6
Eric brought the bowl of mozzarella and set it next to where Achille was working. "Pretty neat," she commented whe he had finished his story. Actually, she thought it was more weird then anything. Sure, what kid didn't like to occasionally burn an ant or play with candles when the opportunity was presented, but to go so far with it was almost creepy. Being creepy wasn't an uncommon trait among pyros, however, and in fact comparitivly Achille was one of the more sane pyros she had ever met.
She moved to a drawer on the far side of the counter and retrieved a plastic bag to put the remaining cheese in, saying as she went, "y'know it's kind of weird, Ian. From what I can tell BLU usually prefers to hire medics that are less... well, sane. Seriously, most of the medic's I've met have been like, freakin mad scientists or something."
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 17, 2012 12:51:27 GMT -6
Seeing that he was no longer needed at the counter, Ian turned a chair from the table to face his teammates and sat down. "Yeah... interesting." He commented on Achille's story after Eric did. And it was interesting indeed -- the Medic didn't recall any mentions of severe pyromania on the man's records back when he eyed over them... but then again, maybe it was a given with all of the Pyros that were recruited. With that in mind, Achille's tale didn't really seem that creepy at all.
"Well..." He trailed off when trying to reply to Eric, unsure whether to take her words as a compliment or an insult. He finally gave a weak shrug, fidgeting with the knotted strings on his pants. "Like I said... I don't know. Maybe they were scraping the bottom of the barrel, or something." That reasoning made the most sense and wouldn't surprise one self-deprecating Medic, anyway.
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Post by Achille on Nov 17, 2012 20:51:31 GMT -6
As Achille began to pepper the spread sauce with a mixture of spices and herbs he let out a loud, short bark of a laugh. "'Bottom of the barrel'" His voice was layered with condemnation. "Don't kid yourself Ian. The folks who recruit newbies only look for the most promising sociopaths around. No offense to you but chances are you're just a late bloomer. You'll get your murderous tendencies down soon enough." Achille sounded all too cheery about that last part.
Finished with the spices, he started to sprinkle the cheese around the pizza, managing to evenly layer it all in no time. Testing the thickness of the cheese with a finger, Achille nodded in satisfaction and began to collect the toppings he would put on. "Speaking of being a late bloomer, how many partner have you been with Ian?" He said out of the blue, straight faced and dead serious, "That might be your problem right there. Too much stress and no way of releasing it."
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Post by Eric on Nov 17, 2012 21:53:42 GMT -6
As Achille spoke, she busied herself by putting the remaining cheese in the bag and cutting off a slice for herself before putting it back in the fridge. She couldn't help but chuckle at his response, because it was pretty true. When Eric had first joined RED, she was incredibly apprehensive about killing the opposing team, but now she actually found it fun. Granted, she knew full well that the next day they would be alive and well, but she had a hard time believing that just any person would be alright with killing the same person over and over as a day job.
What Achille said next, though, made her have to stop and cover her mouth to contain her laughter. How could you even ask somebody something like that with a completely straight face? Well, maybe it was easier for someone who wouldn't be able to see Ian's reaction. Of course, thinking about the question, Eric imaged that Ian probably could get around with ladies if he wanted to. Good looking, smart, and being a doctor helped. Hell, anywhere he went, girls probably flocked all over him, dumb pretty girls who could actually express emotions properly. It occurred to her that the bag of cheese still in her hand was being slowly crushed. She quickly loosened her grip and went to store it in the fridge.
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 17, 2012 23:18:04 GMT -6
As he listened to Achille, Ian folded his legs in the chair in an attempt to evade the chill beginning to bite at his toes. The only response he could give was a disapproving frown. Was what the Pyro said really true? He wasn't sure if he actually wanted to know. As a doctor, Ian only sought to help people -- and nothing more. He didn't have any 'murderous tendencies', and he didn't want them, either. Maybe he would wind up being different. Maybe...
He wasn't able to dwell on those thoughts though, because his teammate quickly presented him with another inquiry. A rather... awkward one. "...What?" He stammered, feeling his own body temperature elevating. Where did that question come from? And, more importantly, why did he even care? As far as the young man knew, it had absolutely nothing to do with what they'd been talking about before.
The muffled giggling he could hear from Eric across the room wasn't doing much to remedy the situation, either. Great.
"I-I'm not stressed." He practically blurted, initially skirting around the more personal question before dropping his gaze to mentally trace the patterns on the floor. His tone reeked more of embarrassment than denial, seeing as the only real source of stress at the moment was the query currently hanging in front of him. Ian let out a small sigh before continuing at a barely audible volume. "None. But I'm not worried about it."
There was a short pause before the Medic abruptly rose to his feet. "...I'll be right back." Without giving anyone a chance to protest, Ian shuffled out of the kitchen. He'd really only planned to go to the bathroom, nothing special, but just being out of the same room as the other BLUs for a minute was a little relief in itself. Maybe he'd take his time and regain himself a bit before returning to the others... it wouldn't be too long.
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